


You're mine now, right?

by Codango



Category: Kimi ni Todoke | From Me to You
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, First Crush, First Love, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Play Fighting, Secret Crush, Walks On The Beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 19:23:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3866887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codango/pseuds/Codango
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was sitting at a picnic table, laughing, surrounded by guys with their mouths open. A stack of empty yakisoba trays stood at her elbow. She was wearing her black bikini top, he noticed. Explains the crowd. Idiots. </p><p>“What’s happening?” He didn’t raise his voice to speak over the crowd. She always heard him. </p><p>Chizuru looked up, her face flushed with triumph. “Ah, Ryu! I was getting picked up, so I turned it into an arm-wrestling match!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're mine now, right?

**Author's Note:**

> A scene from chapter 51, from Ryu's point of view

“Okay, take a short break. Gather back here in twenty minutes.”

Pin was loud and to the point as always. _Guess he’d have to be if he’s gonna make himself heard on the beach today._ The sand offered extra resistance for cardio training for the baseball team, but today, the area offered extra noise too.

_Lots of people._ Ryu wandered over to the coolers. The team had hauled them into the shade of the beach cafe earlier that morning. The small shelter was crowded. He plunged his hand in the nearest cooler for a bottle. _Still cold._

“That girl is incredible! She’s already beaten ten guys!”

“Undefeatable!”

Ryu paused, the icy sports drink already half gone in one chug. A pleased cackle rang out above the noise. He swung his head toward the sound. He’d stopped questioning his reaction to her voice years ago. If he heard her, he went to her. It seemed to work out.

He elbowed his way to the center of the crowd. A couple of girls _tsked_ at his sweaty T-shirt. _Must be dirtier than usual._

She was sitting at a picnic table, laughing, surrounded by guys with their mouths open. A stack of empty yakisoba trays stood at her elbow. She was wearing her black bikini top, he noticed. _Explains the crowd. Idiots._

“What’s happening?” He didn’t raise his voice to speak over the crowd. She always heard him.

Chizuru looked up, her face flushed with triumph. “Ah, Ryu! I was getting picked up, so I turned it into an arm-wrestling match!”

She looked so happy. So pleased with how clever she was. She was all but wagging a tail.

“Picked up?” Ryu repeated. She had said it so nonchalantly. He’d seen guys look at her, of course, but most of their male classmates frankly knew better by now. _Still…_ he glanced around. _Lots of guys here who aren’t from our school._

Chizuru flourished her hand in an arm-wrestling pose. “‘If you win, I’ll hang out with you. If I win, I get a treat.’” Her smirk — and the empty noodle dishes — let it be known that she had no intention of hanging out with random guys today.

Something warm and electric went off in his chest. He was seating himself across from her before he knew what he was doing. “Oh.”

Ryu braced his elbow on the picnic table, held up his hand, looked her in the eye. He didn’t bother glancing around. Every guy who had lost and any guy who still wanted to try would be watching.

 _Idiots,_ he thought again. Their mistake coming in cocky. Their mistake thinking she’d be a cute pushover. _Probably thought it’d be like, ‘Kyaaaa! You’re so strong!’_ He gritted his back teeth together.

Chizuru’s eyes went wide. _Guess she’d be a little surprised._ Ryu was more likely to watch from the sidelines while she radiated energy in the middle of a crowd.

But she grinned, and his heart skipped. _I am not even going to let you_ think _you’re going to win._

Chizuru gripped his hand with hers. As soon as he felt her start to push against him, he gave a small grunt, and —

_SLAM!_

A collective “Whoa!” went up from the onlookers. Chizuru gasped, her arm flattened back against the table.

Ryu could feel color rush to his cheeks. _Embarrassing._ Making a scene like this. He stood quickly. “I win.” He didn’t let go of her hand.

“Oh.” Chizuru blinked, her voice flustered. Arm-wrestling usually took longer for the two of them. Ryu made sure of it. “Did you want my yakisoba?”

He turned away, tugging at her hand. “Twenty minutes.”  _Come with me. Be with me. Not these idiots._

She hesitated, and Ryu turned back to the picnic table. Chizuru was staring at his hand, clutching her wrist. Her color was high, her mouth was open, and she looked so… unsure of what was going on. 

The bit of electricity in his chest from earlier gave an extra burst and stayed hot. Ryu cocked his head and smirked at his childhood friend. He leaned toward her, making her look up at him.

“You’re mine now, right?”

Chizuru’s jaw dropped even further, and Ryu tugged her away from the crowd. “Ryu… Ryu?!” she called, stumbling to keep up with him.

 _You’re mine now?!_ Ryu swallowed hard, walking quickly to where the ocean lapped at the beach. _What sort of… douchey line was that?!_ At least she couldn’t see his face yet. _But…_ he slowed his pace. _But the other guys heard it. And… and that’s what the rules were. Her own rules!_

Ryu wanted the beach to swallow him whole.

“Conditions first!” Chizuru shouted behind him. “I already fought ten people before! I lost because I was tired!”

“Mm.” _She sounds flustered._

“Hey. Ryu… Ryu!”

He paused. _Good god, what are you scared of?_ Ryu took a deep breath, trying to keep it subtle. He could feel the heat in his face. He glanced over his shoulder.

Chizuru opened her mouth to say something, but… she caught his eyes. Her eyebrows shot up, her lips parted.

“T-team work?” she stammered.

Ryu assumed she was asking about the beach practice. “Twenty-minute break,” he explained, relieved to be talking about something normal. Especially when she could have asked, “Why are you being so goddamn weird?”

“H-how’s it going?”

“Working hard. How was your class?” _This is good. Keep it normal. Keep it right here._

“My head is breaking!” She tugged experimentally at his hand. It was slight enough that he could safely pretend to ignore it. He did.

“Didn’t you study really hard when you were prepping for the entrance exams to high school?” he asked. School was a safe subject, but… well, she _had_ studied really hard. She must not have kept it up after she got accepted.

Chizuru relaxed her hand in his grip. “Well, that was because I wanted to get into this school no matter what.”

Ryu furrowed his brow. She said it like was the most obvious thing. “But…” he began carefully. “My brother already graduated by the time we got in.”

He felt the shock flash through her. “Huh?! Why did you think I chose this high school?” Chizuru’s voice was no longer shaking, no longer unsure.

Ryu stopped walking. Faced her. Well, if they were talking normally, he could be honest. “Because my brother graduated from there.” He’d known about her crush for years, had watched it develop. It still kind of sucked.

“Hah?” Chizuru wrinkled her nose. “It was because _you_ were going here!”

Every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Ryu stared at her. She was a full head shorter than he was now. Her brown eyes looked huge as she looked up at him. “It’s obviously because you were here!” she repeated.

Ryu opened his mouth, but he didn’t really know why. He certainly couldn’t say anything. _She… I know she can’t mean…_

“Because if I went to another high school, it wouldn’t be the same high school as yours.” Her voice was careful, patient. Like she was explaining something very obvious to a rather dull child. “If two baseball teams from the two different schools met during prelims, would I support my own team? Hell no! I’d just cheer for you all the time!”

Ryu’s eyebrows shot up.

“I just want to cheer you on,” she said again. She kept her eyes on his, and Ryu hadn’t been so short of breath all day.

She was beautiful. With her brow wrinkled, trying to get him to understand. With her eyes locked on his, certain and honest. Her shiny brown hair, windblown and salty. That damn black bikini she’d started wearing three years ago. That had been a _particularly_ trying day.

Awareness crept into her eyes, and Ryu felt her tug at his hand again.

 _No. No, don’t back away, not after that…_ “Chizuru,” he tried.

“What. D-don’t look over here!” Her face colored a dusky red instantly, and she stared at the sand. “Idiot. Idiot!”

 _Ah._ For years, Ryu had been honest with himself. Known that she didn’t see him the way he wished she would. But these days… these days, it was so close he could feel it. Her heart was right there…

_But not today._

“Thank you,” he said.

A simple phrase. Nonthreatening. And he was grateful. She’d worked so hard, just so she could cheer for him at games? Not because of her crush on his brother. _Not because of a crush on you either._

But romantic or not, it _had_ been for him.

Ryu watched the blush fan across her cheeks. To the tips of her ears peeking through her hair. Down her neck and across her chest. _Damn._

He turned and started walking again.

Chizuru didn’t tug at his hand this time. Instead, slowly, softly, he felt her fingers slip in between his.

Ryu didn’t think he’d be turning around again until his twenty minutes were gone.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [@codango](http://codango.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr
> 
> [Marcella Christie](http://marcellachristie.com/) for my alter ego


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